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Acknowledging the passing of the seasons and meaning of the eight great pagan (sun) festivals has enriched my life

SAMHAIN - Halloween (31st October) INWARD TIME BEFORE REBIRTH, BOUNDARIES BREAK DOWN

The dark time before Yuletide is that time of seething ideas, but ideas too young and unformed to discuss or to share. A time of pulling in and hunkering down and dreaming.

As the doorway to winter it can be a time of hard decisions. It is also that fruitful magical time where all is possible, and dreams reign.

YULETIDE - Winter Solstice - Festival of Sun Return (20th-23rd December) TRANSFORMATION AND REBIRTH

Celebration of the rebirth of both male and female deities sun and wren, son and mother. Mistletoe represents fertility. Gifts are exchanged in celebration of the rebirthing. The five pointed star represents nature magic.

We create our own rebirth and renewal at year turn (sun return). We can shape the work of the deities by dreaming the future into being.

IMBOLG - Candlemass - Bride Day - Dawning of Spring (1st February) CLEANSING AND PURIFICATION

Spring cleaning prepares body and mind for a resurgence. A time of budding sexuality and romance. A time of dedicating new dreams and ideas, and of leaving the old behind. A time of poetry, reading and smith craft.

We release ourselves from the burdens of past by cleansing our home and detoxifying our body. We name and acknowledge the budding of the winter dreams that are beginning to show.

EOSTAR - Spring Equinox - Festival of New Balance (20th-23rd March FERTILITY

Celebration of new life in egg and flower. A time of re-emergence from the winter hibernation and incubation, of bursting forth with new visions.

We renew touch wit our child self, allowing awe to move through us as we celebrate just being. here and now. Beginning again, it is a time of planting and of moving forward.

BELTANE - May day Eve - Greenwood Marriage (30th April) ENERGY AND PURIFICATION

Joyful celebration of the magic of life and love. Creation and its promise, abundance, freedom, sunshine. Fires of healing and cleansing for purification and bounty.

A time for self healing. For celebration of the abundance in your life, and the blessing and care of it, that it may flourish and grow.

LITHA - Summer Solstice (20th-23rd June) CELEBRATION OF NOW AND UNFOLDING FUTURE

Celebration of the fullness of flower and bounty to come, of contentment and joy. Exploration at the height of summer light the movement of the cycle of seasons forward.

It is time to celebrate your bounty, and consider how to extend it, and build upon it in the future. The first moment of reflection on the progress of the winter dreams that set seed and have begun to grow. How can they be shaped to better effect.

LAMMAS - Festival of First Fruits - Lughnasadh (1st August) RIPENING AND UNFOLDING

A time of rejoicing and celebration of the early fruits. The time of fruiting is also the time that seed is set, immature and yet with the promise and potential for future harvests

It is a time of assessment of the harvest, and of life; of how your dreams and plans have evolved. A time to assure yourself that your dreams are realisable and worthy.

MABON - Autumn Equinox (20th-23rd September) THANKSGIVING AND BALANCE

A time of gathering fruits and harvest, of celebrating and preparing for the dark time. Also it is a time to release the chaff, to let go of the past, the unnecessary.

Give thanks for all the good on your life, for all that you have and all you have accomplished in your life. And reflect, so that you can relinquish the things that hold you down, hold you back, and unnecessary or hindering your progress.

Books you might enjoy

Hedge Witch by Rae Beth

The Magickal Year by Diana Ferguson

Flower Remedies

And of course my booklets on the new Ashwhin Flower Remedies (one of the gentlest and most effective ways of stimulating flagging spirits, bringing a sense of emotional well being, and nudging you onward). And the eight Suns of the Ancient Alba Essences correspond with the eight sun festivals described above!

Ashwhin Ancient Alba Flower Essences - learn more about the range online or buy the booklet at our shop

Ashwhin Dynamic Balance Flower Essences - learn more about the range online or buy the booklet at our shop